(12-05-2014 12:54 AM)Dee Wrote: I work in a Christian charged atmosphere. And most of the people I work with dislike me because I am atheist. My boss however actively dislikes me. I get a very real sense that she loves the idea I will suffer eternity in hell. That is so sadistic!

I believe raphael1 is very much like my boss, satisfied with us all going to hell in his sadistic little heart. And I believe our hell-bound position validates who he believes he is--Christian.

Don't you get the sense he is "brushing the dirt off his hands," so to speak?

If I was satisfied that all of you were going to hell, I would not be here,
enduring this verbal abuse while trying to win a few.

Instead of assuming that your boss doesn't like you cause you are an atheist,
why don't you ask her why she doesn't like you. You might be surprised.

(11-05-2014 09:52 AM)Raphael1 Wrote: I did not get saved until I was 28. Up until that time I was a hard drinker,
a brawler and sexually promiscuous. I was full of hate and anger.
I had been all over the world seeing the violence and squalor that the
third world lived in on a daily basis. I sensed the presence of evil (the devil)
before I came to grips with God. In my rage I cursed God and dared him
to show himself to me.
By circumstances and happenings in my life, he did. Things I survived
that I should not have. I didn't hear spoken words but my consciousness was
increased to a higher level. I began to see things in the world around me
in a different way. In the past, I had read parts of the bible and couldn't
make heads or tails of it. but after, some of it began to make some sense.
looking back in my life I can see that God was always there waiting for me.
God's word says "seek me and you shall find me".
Everybody's journey from dark to the light may be a little different, the way we seek
may not be the same. God meets us all where we are in life....Raphael1

The thing is not everyone makes such poor choices as you did. Apparently you needed a change, and perhaps were suffering from PTSD from what you saw in the 3rd World, and the poor choices you made for yourself. There are perfectly (actually much more) reasonable explanations for what you experienced. You had no other paradigm by which to explain it, as your education on these matters, and "religious experiences" was rather poor, and had no other tools to work with. So you resort to "Oh Jebus saved me". "Salvation" is a very "non-biblical" concept. It was an idea which was attached to the new cult by Paul of Tarsus. Jebus never said "Just wait ... I'ma gonna die for you so you can be saved". It's an ancient naive simplistic childish paradigm useful for those who got have nothing better, and who can't deal in complex mental images and paradigms.

Actually, he predicted his death & resurrection, luke 18:31-33
matthew: 20:1719 and in john,3:16 he told why....Raphael1

(11-05-2014 04:36 PM)Bucky Ball Wrote: The thing is not everyone makes such poor choices as you did. Apparently you needed a change, and perhaps were suffering from PTSD from what you saw in the 3rd World, and the poor choices you made for yourself. There are perfectly (actually much more) reasonable explanations for what you experienced. You had no other paradigm by which to explain it, as your education on these matters, and "religious experiences" was rather poor, and had no other tools to work with. So you resort to "Oh Jebus saved me". "Salvation" is a very "non-biblical" concept. It was an idea which was attached to the new cult by Paul of Tarsus. Jebus never said "Just wait ... I'ma gonna die for you so you can be saved". It's an ancient naive simplistic childish paradigm useful for those who got have nothing better, and who can't deal in complex mental images and paradigms.

Actually, he predicted his death & resurrection, luke 18:31-33
matthew: 20:1719 and in john,3:16 he told why....Raphael1

Prediction written after the fact. I do that a lot with football games.

(11-05-2014 09:52 AM)Raphael1 Wrote: I sensed the presence of evil (the devil) before I came to grips with God. In my rage I cursed God and dared him to show himself to me.

Sup Raphael, I'm interested in how exactly you came to grips with God. Care to expand & elaborate? And while you're staying here for more than a topic opener, how about introducing yourself in the proper sub-forum?

(11-05-2014 08:45 PM)Jmspencer11 Wrote: "If you are right, and there is no God, then we all just cease to exist at our death and what we do does not really make any difference."

Ok so I'm tired of hearing Christians say this. Life is beautiful.

Good point. The universe is amazing once you start to learn about it using science. One problem with Pascal's wager is that it misses out the cost of becoming a Christian. Not only do you have to waste time, effort and money being part of a church, you also miss out on appreciating the beauty of the life and the universe in which we are a part of. Instead of being free to marvel up and make your own decisions you end up with guilt and sin.

Pascal's wager is framed in a way that the cost of taking out insurance is supposedly negligible for an incredibly unlikely event but you'd be very happy to have done so if the worst case scenario came out.

But the cost isn't negligible because you have to ruin your life protecting yourself, it's like wearing full body armour every moment from birth to death in the event of a meteorite falling on your head. You might as well be dead if that's what you have to do.

The universe we live in is full of amazing beauty. We like going to the planetarium
and seeing all of the beautiful features in space. Nebulae, gas clouds, star clusters.
The sheer size and distance is quite humbling as we are such a tiny microscopic
spec in all of this grandeur.
We like to pack a camp on the mules and ride into a pristine mountain lake.
It is a long difficult trail in but when you come up over the side of the mountain
& begin to drop down into the lake amongst the high peaks, it is absolutely
breathtaking.
Early in the morning at first light, the lake is perfectly still, reflecting like a
perfect mirror. There is a mist hanging over the water with beams of sunlight
coming thru the mist. A few birds singing. It is so peaceful & calming...
...Raphael1....